Getting over on DARE

[Wilson Gray]

On Aug 25, 2004, at 9:18 PM, Sam Clements wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Getting over on DARE
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Well I´ve done, got over
> Yes, I´ve done got over at last
> I´ve done, got over
> Yes, I´ve done got over at last
> I´m a natural born lover
> Since I got rid of all my trouble
> Yes I´ve done got over at last
>
> No more cryin´ , no more sighin´
> No more walkin´ the floor over you
> No more cryin´ no more sighin´
> No more walkin´ the floor over you
> I´m a natural born lover
> Since I got rid of all my trouble
> Yes, I´ve done got over at last
>
> Just 'possibly' couldn't it be "done got over you" ??
>
> SC

Of course. These things can be problematic. There's a side by Lightnin'
Hopkins called "Down Child." But, when I listen to it, I clearly hear
the title sung as "Down There." In fact, I'd bet on it. I'm almost as
certain that Neil Young sings "... memory, despair" and not "... memory
to spare" in "Helpless." And I've always heard Jimi Hendrix sing,
"'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" and never " ... while I kiss this
guy." But, in the case of "Natural-Born Lover,' I'm not so sure. Those
'Sixties 45's were pretty low-fi. If I can find a CD copy, I'll check
to see whether I hear it differently.

-Wilson Gray

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wilson Gray" <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 9:06 PM
> Subject: Re: Getting over on DARE
>
>
>> On Aug 25, 2004, at 12:57 PM, Grant Barrett wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Grant Barrett <gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG>
>>> Subject:      Re: Getting over on DARE
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> --
>>> --------
>>>
>>> Are you sure that song isn't the sexual/seduction "get over"?
>>
>> Have you ever heard the song? It seems to me that any reading between
>> the lines would be up to the individual listener. Different strokes
>> for
>> different folks. Further deponent sayeth not.
>>
>> -Wilson Gray
>>
>>   DARE doesn't have a sub-sense for that, but HDAS does, and cites
>> Farmer &
>>> Henley to 1890-93.
>>>
>>> Grant Barrett
>>>
>>> On Aug 24, 2004, at 17:07, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>>
>>>> DARE dates BE "get over" with the meaning "succeed," etc. to 1971.
>>>> However, its use occurs far earlier than that. And,  for a change, I
>>>> can supply some documentation. I say "some," because, though I can
>>>> remember this term from the mid-'Fifies, I can't document it as far
>>>> back as that.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, the term occurs in the song, "Natural-Born Lover," written
>>>> and
>>>> recorded by Fats Domino and released as an "Imperial" recording in
>>>> 1960. The first stanza is,
>>>>
>>>> Well, I done got over.
>>>> I done got over, at last.
>>>> I'm a natural-born lover,
>>>> Since I got rid of all my trouble,
>>>> Yes, I done got over, at last.
>>>>
>>>> -Wilson Gray
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>